Science desk
< December 9	<< Nov \| December \| Jan >>	December 11 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Science Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

December 10

Mammals that sexually mature more slowly than Humans?

I was looking at the wikipedia page on Gorillas and the physical/sexual maturity time period seems pretty close to that of humans, humans may physically mature slightly faster (with the (relatively) easy access to food) but of course socially we delay that. Are there any animals that have a *clearly* slower sexual maturity than humans (no female in captivity has shown interest in mating prior to age 20, etc.)— Preceding unsigned comment added by naraht (talk • contribs)

The answer seems to be "none". Humans reach physical sexual maturity at puberty (i.e. the physical ability to have children), and social sexual maturity at their late teens. I can find no other mammals that have anywhere near that slow development. This article seems salient; it's a study of the relationship between age of sexual maturity and brain complexity; it seems to indicate that there's a close correlation between the size and neuron density of an animal's cerebral cortex and how long they spend in childhood. Under that concept, it is pretty easy to see how humans (and other animals with well-developed cerebral cortexes like the great apes and certain marine mammals) have the slowest rate of childhood development. --Jayron 32 16:54, 10 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You're looking for animals which are K-selected, and basically it's whales. The male sperm whale sexually matures at 18, apparently. If you'll allow non-mammals, the greenland shark reaches sexual maturity at age 150. Card Zero (talk) 17:28, 10 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The way I also see this question, is which mammals have a longer lifespan than humans? Cuz if there were, those can be correlated with puberty ages. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 10:31, 11 December 2021 (UTC).[reply]

AFAIK, cetaceans are the only group of mammals that have species that outlive human on average. The Bowhead whale can live to 200 years, but they reach sexual maturity at 10-15 years, slightly earlier than humans. --Jayron 32 04:14, 13 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Heterologous prime-boost vaccination

need plain english definition from a reliable source of "Heterologous prime-boost vaccination", "Homologous prime-boost vaccination", "Heterologous prime-boost immunization", "Homologous prime-boost immunization",

For: Heterologous vaccine = Heterologous prime-boost vaccination

.... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 22:08, 10 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

OK, here's one: using a third dose of a different COVID-19 vaccine as a booster 3 to 6 months after a primary vaccination course (heterologous boosting). This ECDC news item also defines hetrologous primary vaccination and homologous vaccination.

Here's another: A homologous booster dose means an individual will be inoculated with the same vaccine brand used in their primary series while a heterologous booster dose means an individual will be vaccinated with a different brand. This news item is written in English that lapses in places into Filipino, but it seems to be a reliable source (msn.com / GMA News). Card Zero (talk) 22:49, 10 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

"Heterologous vaccine" is a case of false rebracketing. What is heterologous is not the vaccine, but the vaccine regimen (also called vaccine schedule). It is like defining "intensive dairy" as the yield of intensive dairy farming. --Lambiam 08:19, 11 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]